In my previous life, my boyfriend's adopted younger sister, Rita Wood, came to me at the hospital for a prescription because she had a sore throat.

I asked her if she was allergic to any medication, and I even explained the dangers of being allergic to medication.

She told me "no" very firmly.

When I insisted on producing the informed consent form and having Rita sign it, she started a video call with my boyfriend, Ryan Wood, on the spot.

On the screen, Ryan frowned at me before saying coldly, "I know Rita's health very well. She definitely doesn't have a history of allergens. She's my younger sister, so don't keep targeting her over the smallest reasons. I'm very busy, you know. Bye."

So, I gave in and prescribed Rita the medication without undergoing the official process.

Three days later, Rita showed signs of miscarriage due to her allergy toward the medication, leading to her being sent to an emergency treatment room.

Apparently, she hid both her allergy to medication and her pregnancy from me.

Thanks to her, I was held accountable for this incident, which led to me losing my chance to get promoted. At the same time, this incident got onto the news as a medical mishap. I ended up getting blacklisted by the medical world permanently. Not only that, but I had to pay off a huge debt.

In order to clear the debt, I worked three jobs at the same time through day and night without resting. Finally, I collapsed and never got up ever again on a particularly exhausting night.

When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day Rita is here for a prescription.

In my previous life, my boyfriend's adopted sister, Rita Wood, had come to the hospital where I worked. She claimed that her throat hurt and wanted me to prescribe her some medicine.

I had asked her whether she had any allergies. She had firmly said no.

When I insisted on having her sign an informed consent form, she promptly called my boyfriend, Ryan Wood.

I only prescribed her the medication after receiving his confirmation.

Alas, Rita was rushed to the emergency room. She had showed signs of miscarriage caused by an allergic reaction to the medication I'd given her.

"My sister nearly lost her baby! It's over." Those were the last words Ryan had said to me.

I was later held accountable and fell deeply into debt.

To pay it off, I took on three jobs and worked myself to the bone. Eventually, I collapsed on one particularly exhausting night.

I never woke up again.

…

"Cleo, my throat hurts. Can you give me some anti-inflammatory medication?"

My heart lurched when I heard the familiar voice.

I stared blankly at the outpatient slip, my eyes slowly shifting to the date. It took me a long while to come to the conclusion that I'd indeed been reborn.

As my eyes fell on Rita's innocent expression, I nearly gave in to the urge to skin her alive right then and there.

I couldn't help but recall how I had stupidly fallen for her innocent facade and how I came to treat her like a sister. I thought about my end and how she had played a part in it.

Still, I managed to say smoothly, "Rita, why didn't you tell me that you were coming? You wouldn't have needed to make an appointment if you had. I could've just gotten you the medicine after work. There's no need for you to spend any money on this."

Rita was all smiles when she heard my response. "Thank you so much, Cleo! I'll wait for you at the entrance then."

My lips curled into a smirk as I watched her leave. Then, I went ahead and helped her sort out the cancellation paperwork.

After that, I emailed my resignation to the hospital director, William Smith. Naturally, I also wrapped everything up before my departure.

In my previous life, I had chosen to work at this very hospital as a means to repay my mentor's kindness.

However, I never expected that the hospital wouldn't just fail to protect my privacy when the incident happened, but would also play a part in exposing it. They had played a critical role in making me public enemy number one.

Now that I had gotten a second chance at life, I wasn't going to let history repeat itself. Besides, with my credentials, I could easily get a job at any hospital I wanted.

I saw Rita waiting for me by the entrance when I clocked out. Her exquisite makeup was smudged.

When she saw me, she immediately started complaining, "Your hospital's so crowded. I tried to find a place to sit, but I couldn't find any. I also saw a long line at the pharmacy. Thank goodness, I have you around. You can just get the medicine for me."

I checked the time and sighed, feigning regret. "I'm so sorry, Rita. It's already past working hours. I don't have the authority to get you your medicine right now."

"What? Then why did I wait for you all this time?"

Her innocent mask slipped the second she heard that I couldn't help her.

"Did you do this on purpose?" she snapped. "I'm telling Ryan!"

"Why don't we do this instead? I'll treat you to dinner at that new restaurant nearby as an apology," I offered.

Rita said huffily, "Fine. Let's invite Ryan to join us. I haven't seen him in a while."

I nodded. "Alright."

…

I had chosen a Heulonian restaurant. Thus, the menu was teeming with fresh but raw seafood.

I placed several orders and specifically informed the staff to serve Rita first.

When I saw her staring at the seafood and not taking a bite, I couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Rita, don't you love seafood? Why aren't you having any?"

I even deliberately played up my attentiveness and said, "According to the waiter, these were all flown in this morning. I remembered how much you love seafood, Rita, so I specifically ordered the most expensive dishes on the menu."

I noticed Ryan and Rita stiffen after those words fell from my lips. I also caught a flash of guilt on Ryan's usually calm and composed face.

I couldn't help but sneer.

In my previous life, I had assumed that he had no idea that Rita was pregnant. Now, it seemed that he'd known about it all along.

He had lied to me.

He had been lying to me right from the start!

Worse, he allowed Rita to use the incident to ruin me.

I balled my hands into fists, my nails biting into my palms. However, the stinging pain barely managed to cut through my rage.

If I lost it here, I might just grab a knife from the table and cut them up just to see whether their hearts were as black as coal.

Rita picked at the food before shooting a look at Ryan with a pout.

Ryan immediately turned to me and berated me sternly, "Rita has never liked eating all raw seafood. Why would you even treat her to dinner at a Heaulonian restaurant?"

I didn't want to waste my time arguing with him over this. Plus, there was no need for me to do anything to put Rita's baby at risk.

So, I sheepishly apologized. "Guess I remembered wrong. I'm going to pay the bill."

I rose to my feet to settle the bill. Just then, a gust of wind blew past me. It was a little chilly, so I figured I'd turn back for my coat.

That was when I saw Ryan pull Rita into his arms and tenderly kiss her cheek.

Rita had tears in her eyes as she whined, "Ryan, you know I'm frail, and the doctors have repeatedly told me not to eat any raw food. I also told Cleo that I wasn't feeling well and I can't eat this kind of stuff, but she insisted on bringing me here anyway."

"It won't happen again," he said solemnly.

I stood there in utter disbelief.

I had genuinely thought that Rita was just his adopted sister. So, I never figured that there was anything amiss whenever she left his bedroom. If anything, I just assumed that they were very close.

Now, it seemed that they'd long gotten involved with each other without me ever knowing about it.

So… who was the father of Rita's child?

Could it be…

I staggered, clinging to the table for support.

If that was the case, then what about me? What about all the things I'd done for them over the years?

I'd given up so many opportunities for Ryan's sake. I'd even considered Rita a sister and had treated her with utmost care.

Once, I'd braved the rain and taken her to the hospital when she said she'd sprained her ankle. I'd ignored the fact that I'd been suffering from a high fever myself.

However, the CT scan later showed that she was fine. Only then did Rita casually say, "I was faking it. I just wanted to see whether you were really that sick."

I had been furious, but Ryan had comforted me and told me to let it go. He claimed that Rita had grown up lonely, and that was why she was acting out.

I had endured it all, and that was why I'd fallen into such disgrace!

I clenched my jaw and turned away, choosing not to expose them right then and there.

When I got home, I immediately texted Ryan to end things between us. He didn't reply. I didn't care. Our relationship was over with or without his say-so.

Then, I placed my phone aside and went to sleep.

The following morning, I was woken up by my phone ringing up a storm. It was the hospital.

"Cleo, did you prescribe amoxicillin to a pregnant patient yesterday? Were you not aware that she's allergic to amoxicillin? She's in the ER right now due to a possible miscarriage!"

Sleep immediately left me when I heard those words.

I had gotten the exact same phone call in my previous life.

Could it be that my efforts were in vain?

I drew a deep breath and forced myself to calm down.

"Dr. Smith," I said finally, "I can promise you that I would never prescribe amoxicillin to a pregnant woman who is allergic to it."

He sighed and replied, "Cleo, you're the most talented student I had the honor of teaching. However, it's already all over the internet. Everyone believes that you've deliberately prescribed that drug to the pregnant woman, causing her to nearly miscarry."

I swiftly clicked on my social media app. Sure enough, the trending topic of the day was, "Sister of Wood Corporation's CEO Nearly Miscarries Due to Medical Negligence."

Rita had posted a long, tearful statement. She claimed I'd knowingly prescribed her amoxicillin despite being aware of her allergy, which apparently led to her near miscarriage.

She'd even attached a picture of her registration record and outpatient slip to her post. Then, she posted a picture of me accepting said slip.

Netizens hurled all sorts of abuse at me in the comment section. They called me a quack doctor and voiced their support for Rita.

Still, I saw a few scattered comments that were dancing a different tune. They were written by my former patients.

"Dr. Summers was my wife's primary surgeon. She was very meticulous and patient. She constantly reminded us about precautions and repeatedly checked over my wife's health before proceeding with the operation. I don't believe she'd ever do something like this."

"That's right. Dr. Summers double-checked everything before prescribing medicine to my grandmother."

However, those comments were quickly overwhelmed by Rita's vehement supporters.

"She deserves to die! If someone as wealthy as Ms. Wood could be fooled by a doctor, what about us ordinary folks? I support Ms. Wood!"

"Ms. Wood is a kind woman. She doesn't deserve to run into a doctor like that."

Rita swiftly posted another video of her crying.

"I finally got pregnant, and I've always considered my baby as my little miracle," she sobbed. "I don't know what I've done to Dr. Summers for her to do this to my baby. I might have lost my baby if Ryan hadn't rushed me to the hospital in time.

She added, "I didn't make this post to ruin Dr. Summers. I posted this as a reminder for everyone to be careful in the future."

Her post was like fuel to the fire that was the netizens' anger. Soon, all sorts of comments demanding that I be severely punished flooded the hospital's official account.

Someone even managed to dig up my information and posted a picture of my resignation.

Shortly after, the hashtag #CleoSummersFleeing shot up to the top of the trending list.

Several hot-blooded citizens had even taken the initiative to camp out at the hospital and at my residence.

I had nowhere to hide, so I could only release a public statement.

"I hope Ms. Wood could provide genuine evidence and stop posting provocative updates to escalate the situation."

Rita went live 30 minutes later. Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed into the camera, "Since evidence is what all of you want, then I'll show you the evidence."